Ellies 4th Birthday

Ellie turned 4 today! She had a Pirate Party to celebrate. Everyone had a lot of fun and tonight when I was putting her in bed she thanked me for the "best birthday ever". And that is what makes it all worth it. :) The party started off with the coolest invitations. I diped paper in coffee to stain it and make it look old. I then printed the invite in Pirate language and used an treasure map with an X as a watermark. I torn and burned the edges for the finishing touches. Ellie & Caden dressed up in their Pirate costumes that I made. They looked so good. I also made a pirate ship cake with cannons, sails, and a pirate and treasure on top. When everyone arrived we decorated their pirate hats with feathers, jewels, and puffy paint. We also colored some pirate pictures. Then we played pin the key on the treasure map. Each kid had a key they tried to pin on the X of a treasure map. They were blindfolded and spun around 3 times. Then we ate lunch. We had hotdogs with sails to make look like a ship and some goldfish "swimming" on the plate. After lunch came the awesome cake. The kids seemed to love it. Then we did the treasure hunt. There were 5 clues to find the buried treasure. Each child got a treasure box with gold coins (plastic and chocolate), necklace, ring, compass, telescope, skull wistle, treasure map, pirate money and an eyepatch. I found the awesome pirate favors at walmart in a party pack and then just added the coins and necklaces. After the treasure hunt the kids came in to open gifts. Ellie got a lot of fun toys. Then everyone went outside to play until the parents came to pick them up. I would say it was a sucess. The only thing that suffered was my poor jute rug under my kitchen table. There was SOOOO much chocolate cake smeared into it. I got it all cleaned up though with my trusty steam vac and now it is just drying. Click below for pics and video from the Party.